K&L cares about the security of your credit card and personal information. We detected that your browser and/or operating system is not compliant with current credit card security protocols. Please click this message for more information.

K&L cares about the security of your credit card and personal information. We detected that your browser and/or operating system is not compliant with current credit card security protocols. Please upgrade your browser and/or operating system. Your browser and operating system need to support industry standard transport security protocol TLS version 1.2. Alternatively, contact K&L and we can help you with your order.

2009 Banshee Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

SKU #1061214

Banshee Wines is not your normal wine company. It is a band of wine industry insiders dedicated to producing benchmark wines without the cult wine prices. These folks specialize in finding hidden gems in other wineries' cellars and then blending those barrels to create killer wines. For every barrel they take, they pass on 15 more that don't make the cut. The secret is that today, high-end wineries can't sell all the wine they make and they don't want to lower prices because they don't want to diminish their brand. They would rather sell some of their wine to us and protect their luxury prices. Fine by Banshee and even better for you. You'll find Banshee on some of the best restaurant lists in the world and in the cellars of the wine cognoscenti. You know, those people that tend to know these types of things. The goal is to deliver distinctive wines that beat the pants off many costing twice as much. There may not be a better Pinot for $20 this year.

Product Reviews:

The Banshee is back in a big way. After we blew through the 2009 Santa Lucia Highlands and Sonoma County bottlings earlier in the year we were very excited when our friends at Banshee let us know that the 2009 SLH bottling was ready to go. They haven’t missed the mark with this wine, living up to the 2008 and possibly surpassing it, with a better sense of overall balance here. Clay, dragonfruit, orange peel and hard candies combine for a pleasing nose typical of the Santa Lucia Highlands warmer climate. Juicy and pure on the palate with a deeply set fruitiness and a lush creamy texture this is sure to please and priced to afford. I’d say if you liked the previous vintage, were one of the many that missed out, or are simply just one of the multitude of Pinot fanatics out there, this wine is a must.

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Pinot Noir

- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world. Click for a list of bestselling items from the United States.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year. For our entire selection of California wines, please visit this link.